Video games, online video games, and online video game tournaments have become increasingly popular. While participation in some of such games may require an initial investment (e.g., purchasing a game program) or be free of charge, much online gaming, particularly for ‘premium’ online games, requires payment for participation, which is usually provided in the form of monthly fees. Fee payment typically requires a player to maintain and/or purchase an account with an online gaming provider. Such payment methodologies may, however, not be advantageous in many circumstances.
Further, even by paying these fees, the fairness of online gaming or other gaming tournaments is not guaranteed. Online gaming, for example, is subject to hacking and the use of ‘bots’, while offline gaming tournaments are fraught with even more uncertainty.
Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods that address these and other problems found in existing gaming technologies